I am now 32 weeks pregnant, it is hard to believe that 8 weeks from now is my due date! I know realistically it will probably be more like 9 weeks until he is born, especially if he takes after me. I was late and Jeff was early, so we’re hoping maybe that will average out to a right-on-time birthday for our little guy. I still have an achy back, Jeff is kind enough to give me lots of backrubs which is definitely a help. Other than that though, I am feeling good. The baby is now about 3 and 2/3 pounds, or about the weight of a large jicama. Bet you wouldn’t have guessed that particular produce item, would you? He goes by a few different nicknames…before we knew if it was a boy or a girl, we referred to the baby as Poppy, because the first Babycenter email we got said he was the size of a poppy seed. So some family members still use that name. My brother-in-law calls him Winston, and Shani likes to call him Harold. While I can’t reveal his real name, you can be confident that none of those nicknames will be on the birth certificate! I’m sure we will come up with many more nicknames once he is here.

My friend Laura threw me a baby shower yesterday. I don’t have the pictures from her yet, but I’ll try to remember to post those when I get them. It was so much fun, she did a Hawaii theme since Jeff and I went to Maui on our honeymoon and just love it there. I got a special open lei, which apparently is what pregnant women traditionally wear. It was great to have friends gather together to celebrate our son! We had delicious food, a couple games (one where everyone had to make a baby out of Play-Doh and I got to pick the winner), and of course presents. Baby stuff is so much fun to open! I love bringing it all home and sharing it with Jeff and then putting it away in the nursery. I wish my non-local friends could have been there too to share in the fun.

We awoke this morning to a dusting of snow on the ground, and it is snowing now. Thankfully it doesn’t seem to be accumulating, so I’m hoping it won’t cause commuting headaches tomorrow morning. Here’s the 32 week photo:

We now have 9 weeks left! Well okay, I realize it may be more than 9, but in 9 weeks I’ll be 40 weeks pregnant! The baby is now about the size of four navel oranges. I guess the BabyCenter folks couldn’t come up with one produce item that was just the right size (about 3 and a half pounds). We had the second half of our childbirth class Saturday. We learned a couple of techniques to help with back labor…hopefully I won’t experience that, but if our little guy takes after me, it could happen (sorry, Mom). Jeff did more painting in the nursery this afternoon…I need to figure out what to do for curtains in there, but otherwise I think the nursery basics are pretty well set. And, in very exciting news, I am typing this from our new glider! When we ordered it last week they said it could take up to 12 weeks, which would have put the glider arriving after the baby. But yesterday we got the call it was in, so we picked it up and Jeff assembled it, and it is sooo comfy. Thankfully I have no crazy weather news to report…no snowstorms, no more flooding, in fact we have had SUN the past two days. It is so nice to see all the mountains and even the foothills are covered in snow and are just beautiful. I have lived here for five years now and am still amazed at how breathtaking the mountains are, I never get tired of looking at them.

Here’s the 31 week picture, have a great week!

I passed the three hour test, even with the throwing up drama. Whew! That noise you folks in the Midwest heard was my sigh of relief. So unless something changes, I won’t have to re-do the test. Thank goodness! I’m now 30 weeks pregnant and the baby weighs almost three pounds. We had our first childbirth class today, with the second half next Saturday. There were 12 couples in the class and 9 of us are having boys! Afterward we went to Kate’s in Everett for some falafel. Yum. We are big falafal fans but hadn’t had any in way too long. Then it was off to Babies R Us to order our glider rocker. Many of you know that I had earmarked some of the settlement money from my car accident for this purchase. Well, coming up on two years after the accident, we finally reached that settlement and the glider shopping commenced! Jeff can’t figure out why we didn’t get a glider earlier, as he figures it will be just perfect for football watching. Hopefully the glider arrives before the baby does. Jeff is going to work on painting the nursery tomorrow. It is so fun to plan how it will look and see it all coming together.

You’ve probably heard about all the flooding we’ve had out here, just after we finally cleared out all the snow and ice. For a couple days this week it was almost impossible to get into or out of Western Washington via roads, as I-5 was closed in the southern part of the state, and all three mountain passes were closed due to avalanches and avalanche danger. Things are slowly getting back to normal, and we are very thankful that we live on higher ground and were not flooded.

Here’s the 30 week belly shot:

Well, no pictures to post today but I wanted to update my seven or eight loyal readers on this morning’s adventures in needles. After fasting overnight, I got to the doctor’s office at 8am and had the first blood draw, followed by consuming the glucose solution. It was indeed yuckier than what I had to drink for the 1 hour test, but I got it down. Then I had blood draw number two at 9am, and at 9:30am I threw up the glucose solution and all the water I had been drinking. The nurse called the lab to get their input on what to do next. Thankfully they didn’t make me drink the glucose again. They recommended finishing out the 3 hour test, then if the first two blood draws (pre-throwing up) come back normal, I’m good to go. If those two are high, then they will either make me re-do the test or just diagnose me with gestational diabetes. If I have to re-take it, they can give me an anti-nausea pill to take first, and they said I might also be able to eat a little something beforehand and they can just note that for the analysis. So after two blood draws in each inner arm, they gave me the Rh shot and finally I was free (and able to get some food!). I should have results Monday or Tuesday. Of course I am just really hoping it comes back at normal levels! I will post an update when I get the results. Thanks for checking in!

Happy New Year! We are having a quiet New Year’s Eve with our company, which is just fine by us. I’ll be lucky if I am still awake come midnight. We had a fun late Christmas opening gifts this past Sunday….eight people means lots of presents under the tree! We got some fun baby stuff and Jeff got some oh-so-cute clothes for our boy plus a pair of the smallest, cutest Converse shoes you have ever seen. I also got a body pillow, which has been very useful in helping my back not be as achy during the night.

In non-holiday-related excitement, I got the call that my 1 hour glucose test came back “a little high” so I have to do the 3 hour version (which sounds to me like it takes longer than 3 hours) on Friday. I am really really not looking forward to that. It involves fasting for 10 hours beforehand, then I get to drink an even more concentrated version of the glucose solution (which makes some people throw up, then you have to drink it again) and then sit there all morning while they draw my blood once an hour. Keep in mind I am still not eating anything this whole time. Oh yes, and to top it off, I’m not making antibodies to the baby’s blood (that’s a good thing) which means while I’m there Friday they’ll give me the Rh shot I need (not so fun). A morning of needles, on an empty stomach….not my idea of a good time. I am really hoping that I will pass this round and not have to deal with gestational diabetes!

I’m now 29 weeks pregnant and the baby weighs about 2 1/2 pounds, or about the heft of a butternut squash. Here is today’s photo. Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2009!

We haven’t had a white Christmas in Seattle since 1990, but we definitely have one today! We woke up this morning to several more inches of snow. While beautiful, it’s going to prevent us from getting up to my Grandma’s house today to see family. They have even more snow up there, plus potential for ice this evening. We’re waiting to do presents until our niece is here this weekend, so we’ll have a relaxing Christmas day at home…currently there is fudge being made, and I think Jeff and I will venture out for a walk in the snow soon. Thankfully my in-laws were finally able to get here on Tuesday night, two days later than scheduled but with the mess that was Sea-Tac, we are just thrilled that they made it here! We also have my brother-in-law, his girlfriend, and her daughter here from eastern Washington, so we are enjoying a houseful of family and friends. It is great to have people here to celebrate the holiday with us.

I’m now 28 weeks pregnant and officially in the third trimester! I survived the blood draw for the glucose test. They also took vials to test for anemia and for Rh antibodies since I am a negative blood type and Jeff is positive, so I may have Rh incompatibility with the baby. If I’m not making any antibodies, I’ll go in for a shot to keep me from making them. The baby is moving lots and last night after dinner he showed off his moves for the company. He now weighs about 2 1/4 pounds, or about the size of a Chinese cabbage.

Here’s a Christmas day belly shot, it’s kind of blurry but you’ll get the idea:

A very Merry Christmas to all of you! We are thinking of and missing family and friends who are far away.

Snow, snow and more snow! That’s the story here in Seattle. We have had snow on the ground for a week now, and we got hit hard on Wednesday. Jeff and I ended up working from home Wednesday and Thursday. I ventured to work on Friday; the snow had stopped but the side roads were (and are!) pretty icy. This morning it was 0 degrees when we woke up. Now, I know all this doesn’t sound like a big deal to my Midwestern readers, but for around here this is a major storm. They’re not big believers in salt here and plows are in short supply, so we get a lot of icy roads with sand on top. Add to that the fact that a lot of locals don’t know how to drive in the snow, and I’d just rather stay at home. The next round hits us tonight with 4-8 inches of snow, 50-60mph winds (gusts up to 80!) and then a possible transition to freezing rain..this all adds up to a good chance of losing power. It could be a very interesting Christmas! We are hoping that Jeff’s parents are able to fly in as planned tomorrow and then that we are able to get them from the airport!

In pregnancy news, I’m now at 27 weeks and our son weighs about 2 pounds, about the size of a head of cauliflower. I’ll have the one hour glucose test on Monday. If you haven’t had this delightful experience, I gather it involves chugging a disgustingly sweet solution, then one hour later they draw your blood to screen for gestational diabetes. If you fail the one hour, you get to do the three hour, where they repeatedly draw blood. Many of you know that I don’t do well with even the thought of needles, so I’m really hoping to pass this one hour test!

Some pictures from this week:

The view from our front porch:

And from our yard:

On the front porch:

All this time at home has a bonus: I’m getting some knitting in! Pixel kept me company yesterday:

We’re into the double digits for days left! Granted, those double digits are still pretty close to 100, but it definitely feels like a landmark. At 26 weeks, our little guy is about the length of an English cucumber. The other night we were reading in bed and he was moving around. We were actually able to see his movements from the outside! We sat there for a good 10 minutes watching the show. My bellybutton is now in this weird stage between an innie and an outie….it’s pretty much flat. But I can now do a neat trick where I can actually make it pop out if I stretch the skin around it a bit. Who knew pregnancy would have such great entertainment value?

26 weeks:

Our little guy now weighs as much as the average rutabega (sp?), or about a pound and a half. I am weighing more as well…the other day I was at the gym and a woman said to me in the locker room, “I just realized you’re pregnant!” Now, this is a comment I avoid making at all costs until the woman herself mentions being pregnant, but since I am, it doesn’t bother me at all. I am looking forward to Christmas, it’s time to get out the decorations, not to mention buy a tree. My in-laws will come to visit us from Michigan for Christmas, which is always a lot of fun (and also a lot of good food). The only downside will be not having much time off work, because I’m hoarding vacation time for March. But I’ll get a nice long weekend for Christmas, as I am taking the 26th off (thank goodness for floating holidays). I’m hoping to get some good knitting time over the holiday, as I need to finish the baby blanket before the baby arrives. I hold no delusions that I’ll be doing much knitting for a while after he is here!

Here’s the offical 25 week picture. After uploading it, I notice that my pants are doing something funky in the rear there. I promise they don’t look this way normally, I think it’s from adjusting them for the picture.

Happy Thanksgiving! We certainly have a lot to be thankful for this holiday. We are enjoying having Jeff’s brother, his girlfriend, her daughter, and our niece here for the long weekend. It’s great to have time to spend with them and just relax together. We journeyed up to my Grandma’s for Thanksgiving Day, along with 35+ other assorted relatives. There is a 2009 “baby boom” on that side of the family, as two of my cousins are expecting babies, one in April and one in June or July. I can’t wait for our little one to get to know his cousins! Today has been a relaxing day at home…my brother-in-law is a master at homemade pizza dough, and we make sure to press him into service each time he visits. As I type this he is working on dough for tonight’s dinner. I’m told one of the pizzas will be Thai chicken, featuring a yummy peanut sauce. Mmmmmmm.

In baby news, we are now at 24 weeks…it’s hard to believe that I can now say I am six months pregnant! I am still feeling good and loving the second trimester. Our son is over a pound and over a foot long, and I love feeling him move every day. It’s really fun when he moves and Jeff gets to feel it.

A couple pictures: